Today In History...

Today In History...

   In 1746 Princeton University in New Jersey receives its charter.

   In 1797 French balloonist Andre-Jacques Garnerin makes the first parachute

           jump, landing safely from a height of about 3,000 feet.

   In 1836 Sam Houston is inaugurated as the first constitutionally elected

           president of the Republic of Texas.

   In 1928 President Hoover speaks in New York of the "American system of

           rugged individualism."

   In 1934 Bank robber Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd is shot to death by the FBI

           at a farm in East Liverpool, Ohio.

   In 1939 First televised NFL football game - Eagles vs. Dodgers.

   In 1948 The Xerox copier is introduced, 10 years after it's invention.

   In 1953 Laos gains full independence from France.

   In 1954 West Germany joins the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

   In 1962 President Kennedy announces on radio and television that he had

           imposed a naval blockade on Cuba, following the discovery of Soviet

           missle bases on the island.  Kennedy demands the Soviets dismantle

           the rocket sites.

   In 1967 The Apollo VII spacecraft returns safely, splashing down in the

           Atlantic Ocean, after orbiting the Earth 163 times.

   In 1975 Soviet spacecraft Venera 9 lands on Venus.

   In 1978 Negotiators for Egypt and Israel announce in Washington, DC, that a

           tentative peace treaty had been reached.

   In 1979 The U.S. government allows the deposed Shah of Iran to travel to

           New York for medical treatment -- a decision that precipitates the

           Iran hostage crisis two weeks later.

   In 1981 The U.S. national debt tops $1 trillion.

   In 1981 The Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization is

           decertified.

   In 1981 Leaders of 22 nations, including President Reagan, convene in

           Cancun, Mexico, for a 2-day summit.

   In 1985 U.S. Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger accuses the Soviet Union of

           violating the SALT II accord by deploying the SS25 intercontinental

           ballistic missile.

   In 1986 WNBC reporter Jane Dornacker is killed in a helicopter crash.

   In 1986 President Reagan signs into law sweeping tax-overhaul legislation.

   In 1986 In an escalating diplomatic dispute with the U.S., the Soviet Union

           expells five more staff members of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.

   In 1990 President Bush vetos a major civil rights bill, arguing that the

           measure would force employers to adopt hiring quotas.

   In 1991 The European Community and the European Free Trade Association

           conclude a landmark accord to create a free trade zone of 19 nations

           by 1993.

   In 1992 The space shuttle Columbia is launched on a 10-day mission that

           included deployment of an Italian satellite.

   In 1995 The largest gathering of world leaders in history marks the 50th

           anniversary of the United Nations by demanding the organization

           change so it can fulfill its founder's dreams.

   In 1995 British writer Sir Kingsley Amis dies in London at age 73.

   In 1996 General Motors settles a 3-week strike with its workers in Canada,

           resolving a walkout that had idled more than 46,000 workers across

           North America.

   In 1996 34 people are killed and 76 injured when a flaming Boeing 707 jet

           slices through dozens of homes minutes after taking off from

           Ecuador's Manta airport.

   In 1997 For the first time, U.S. inspectors discover E. coli bacteria in

           imported Canadian beef, halting shipments of 34,000 pounds.

   In 1998 China ends its first-ever human rights conference, defying Western

           definitions of civil liberties.

   In 1999 Former Vichy official Maurice Papon is expelled from Switzerland

           back to France.

   In 2000 Arab leaders wrap up 2-day summit on Israeli-Palestinian violence

           with declaration that stops short of outright call for cutting ties

           with Israel.

   In 2001 A second Washington postal worker, Joseph P. Curseen, dies of

           inhalation anthrax.

   In 2002 Former CIA Director Richard Helms dies at age 89.